Missy's Gentle Giant (14 page)

“Ben did you mean it?  What
you just said—did you mean it?”  He never saw such big beautiful round
almond colored eyes.

“Please don’t be angry.  I
know you love Eduardo, but—yes I do care about you, and I don’t want you to be
hurt.”

“Eduardo?  Me love
Eduardo?  I hate Eduardo!”  Instantly she was up on her knees, her
beautiful torso showing, and anger flared in her almond colored eyes.

Ben’s blood raced, and his body
quickly went out of control.  He swallowed hard again.  “You don’t
love Eduardo?”  Not even feeling himself drop to his knees in front of
her, he grabbed her shoulders.  “I’m going to kiss you, Melissa.” 
His open lips crashed against hers tasted her tongue and danced with it. 
His arms shot around her and pulled her tightly against him until he felt her
breasts against his chest.  Missy’s arms shot up around his neck and into
his hair.  Ben’s chest burned wanting air, but he didn’t want to release
her warm body from against his.  Deep from within he groaned, finally pulled
away long enough to draw a breath of air and crushed his hungry mouth over hers
again.  His hand slid down to the small of her back and pushed her against
his arousal.  Instantly Missy began shaking uncontrollably.

“Ben, please don’t—”  His
hands went to her shoulders, and he pushed himself away until he sat on his
ankles.

“I’m sorry.”  His breathing
was labored.

Missy saw how he was hurting like
earlier in the day.  She leaned forward and touched her head to his
shoulder.  “Please, it’s not your fault.  It’s me; I’m afraid—”

“I know, and I won’t hurt you,
Melissa.”  As his breathing calmed a little, he reached up and brushed her
hair.  Then he remembered she couldn’t hear, felt for her hand and told
her again.  “I know, and I won’t hurt you.”

Missy slowly pulled away and smiled
sheepishly.  “I like it when you kiss me; it’s just it causes these
strange feelings—”  She stared at the bed between them.

Ben reached out and pulled her chin
up so she’d see his lips.  “Yes, I get the feelings too.  Don’t worry
about it.  Just tell me when you want me to stop—whenever you feel
uncomfortable like just now.  I’ll understand.”  Reaching around her,
he pulled the covers back and gently pushed her down.  Slowly he lay on
his side facing her and kissed her forehead.  “Let me show you about
love.”  He kissed her eyes and then her nose.  “Rest now my
precious.”

“Ben I like the feelings.  I—I
just don’t know how to—”

“Hush.  Let me show you about
making love.  Okay?”

Melissa nodded.

For the next two hours Ben made
love to Melissa in a way neither would ever forget.  With his fingers he
gently traced her shoulders and arms, her throat and parts of her face. 
When he was sure she wouldn’t shudder, he kissed her lightly in these
places.  Once he flipped her on her tummy and rubbed her back as if he was
giving a massage, kissing her several times through her nightgown. 
Carefully he avoided places which would frighten her.  He even touched her
legs, careful not to go too high on her thighs.  All through this he
gently told her with his hand how beautiful she was and how he cared so much
for her.  Not only did she feel the words spelled out in her hand, but the
wisps of air from his breath saying them warmed her.

When Melissa turned back on her
side to face him, she surprised him with a gentle kiss of her own.  Then
she giggled with eyes full of mischief.  Melissa felt immense pleasure as
he awakened her to new sensations, and he enjoyed a new pleasure in seeing what
it did to her.  He gave all of his feelings as best he could.

“Is this called making love?” 
She whispered.

Ben nodded a smiling, yes.

“May I make love to you?”

Again Ben nodded a yes. 
Sensing it was something she needed to do, he watched as she explored his
body.  Several times he thought he was going to die right there on the
spot, like when she slid her tongue along the outside of his ear and when she
unbuttoned his shirt to kiss him on the chest.  Even though it left him
frustrated as hell, he felt damn good she was finding pleasure in touching
him.  It was a first step.  When he thought he could take no more, he
pulled her down against his chest with a growl and startled her.  Rolling
over with her until she was on her back under him again, he kissed her hungrily
and passionately, his tongue dancing with hers, and leaving them both
breathless.  Missy knew it was time to stop when he mashed his forehead
against hers.  “I really care about you.  You do know; don’t you?”

“Yes, I know.”  When they lay
back on their sides facing each other Missy closed her eyes and fell instantly
asleep.  Ben stared at her for another hour before he noticed it was
already four and forced his eyes closed too.

At six when the alarm rang, Ben
rolled over and shut it off.  He kissed Missy’s forehead and slowly got up
to shower.  Missy woke up when she felt him leave and waited for his
return.  Shyly, secretly she watched as he walked from the bathroom with a
towel wrapped around his waist.  So often had she seen all her brothers in
various states of undress, it didn’t embarrass her, but seeing Ben and his
muscular body created strange sensations through her.  She wanted to kiss
all of him, explore all of him sometime.  She saw two deep scars on his
back as he entered the closet.  She noted another long scar on his thigh
while he pulled up his pants.  He was buttoning his shirt when she finally
sat up and hugged her legs.

“You’re beautiful.  You
know?”  She grinned.

Ben laughed a little
embarrassed.  “Oh you’ve been sneaking a peek?”  He’d never been
called beautiful, and it surprised him.

“I was watching you.”  She
smiled smugly.  “Your scars make you beautiful.”

“You think so?”  He walked
over to her and kissed her on the nose.  “Honey, you’re beautiful too.”

“How do you know?”

“Because last night the light
shined through your gown.”

“Oh Ben!”  Embarrassed, she
grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

He laughed.  “Someday maybe
you’ll let me see your scars too.”  He grinned at her through the mirror.

“I don’t have any scars.”  She
frowned.  “Will you tell me about yours?”

“You don’t have any hidden?” 
He didn’t like thinking about his scars.

“Well, maybe where I fell out of
the tree and got cut, but it’s a teeny scar.”

“A tree huh?”  He grinned.

“Do you remember how you got all
your scars?’

“Yep, all of them.”  Scars? 
An idea hit him.  Yes, scars!  It might be the answer.  “One day
when you’re exploring me, I’ll tell you all about them.  Okay?”  He
walked over and sat on the bed.  “By tomorrow sometime, you’ll be able to
go home.  Tell you what, I’ll tell Mrs. Diaz to call your mom later, all
right?  As soon as this is over and the men are in jail you can go home.”

“Are you going to be
careful?”  Melissa tried to hide her fear.

“Just for you, I will be.”  He
kissed her lightly and stared at her.  “I care about you too much not to
be careful.”  He kissed her again and pulled away, and Melissa saw the
muscles ripple in his cheeks.  She watched as he rose, hesitated and
turned toward the door.

“Ben wait—”  He turned in
surprise as she jumped from the bed and threw herself into his arms.  “Be
careful and come back so—so I—I can explore your scars.”  She forced a
laugh trying to hide tears, but it was useless.

Ben tried to suppress his own tears
when his tongue touched hers and his lips crashed against hers.  His huge
arms pulled her up off the floor and molded her against him.  She didn’t
shudder even though he held her to him and she felt his arousal.  Knowing
they needed to breathe, he pulled away and carried her back to the bed. 
“When I come back, we’ll both do some exploring Melissa.”

Ben was already running late, but
he took the time to stop in the kitchen.  “Mrs. Diaz, wake up Susan and
tell her I’ve gone; Missy might need her.  Ask Susan to talk to Missy
about scars, especially hidden ones.”  He headed out the door for the
library.  “Oh, tell Wanda there’s a note for her on my desk, and call
Missy’s mother for her and help her talk if she wants.”

“All right, sir.”  Mrs. Diaz
shook her head with wonder.  Ben was already in the library.  He
pulled out a large brown envelope, double-checked the pictures inside and wrote
a quick note for Wanda with instructions and messages he wanted to be given.

Mrs. Diaz was coming back
downstairs just as Ben was leaving.  “Dinner sir?”

“I’ll be back around seven or
eight.  I’ll call, so ask Susan for a time.”  He smiled, went out the
door and climbed in the waiting car.  He was to meet up with the trucks
just north of town and take the third one which had been loaded special. 
The driver would go back for the fifth one.  Silently the car sped away,
and Ben hoped every thing would work as planned.  He just wished he knew
for sure Moreno would be coming too.

The hired truckers were ready and
waiting when the Sanchez brothers drove up to the warehouse.  Gonzalo
quickly explained he’d called them in because Missy had disappeared two nights
before and he needed his brothers to help look for her.  Where the hell
they were going to look was something else, but Ben wanted them off on this
wild goose chase.  Half an hour after four trucks had gone, one trucker
came back in a car thanked the person bringing him in and said the truck was in
trouble.  By then no one but Gonzalo was around since his brothers had
already gone off looking for Missy.  He’d told his brothers he’d take the
fifth load out himself, so they didn’t expect him to be around the shop. 
Gonzalo watched as the fifth truck took off with the hired driver and then went
to his office.  What the hell was he supposed to do now?  He was
surprised when the phone rang and he heard Wanda’s voice.

“Ben left a note.  He wants me to
talk to your parents.  He said to check and see if you cleared the fifth
truck and could go home to meet me there.”

“Yeah it’s gone.”  Gonzalo
glared angrily.  “I’ll be at the house in fifteen minutes.  He didn’t
want his parents to meet the cheap floozy Wanda and hurriedly climbed in his
car.  If he could get there before her, he might just head her off. 
What the hell was wrong with Ben?

At ten a sleek Porsche pulled up in
front of the house.  Gonzalo was so surprised to see Wanda dressed like a
business woman, he opened the door and invited her in the house.  Within
minutes, she showed DEA identification and explained over coffee to Mr. And
Mrs. Sanchez she was an agent working with Ben to get a drug dealer using
Sanchez trucks.

Then she explained about Ben’s
involvement, how Gonzalo had been threatened with Missy’s safety and how Missy
was in safe hands.  She told Mrs. Sanchez Mrs. Diaz would probably help
Missy call later in the day.  As soon as they knew everyone was in
jail—Ben estimated by tomorrow—as soon as they knew Missy was safe, then she’d
be returned.  Mr. Sanchez looked up at Gonzalo.  “You knew all this?”

“No, Pop.  When he came here I
knew he was with DEA, but I honestly thought he was using Missy, and—he told me
he walked out on the case.”  Gonzalo glanced at Wanda with a strange worry
he didn’t understand.  “Is it really as serious as Ben indicated?  I
mean, I got the impression they were after the drug cartel, dealer and all?”

“Oh gosh, did he give you such an
idea?”  Wanda smiled and rose.  “Ben just didn’t want the people
threatening you to have a chance to get Missy while he was away.”  Gonzalo
saw her smile was fake.  “Anyhow—”  She smiled again at Mr. and Mrs.
Sanchez.  “He sent me to tell you Missy’s fine and your worries will be
over soon.”

Gonzalo followed Wanda outside to
Ben’s car.  “Now tell me the truth.”  He glared.

“Yes it’s serious—one of the trucks
will be confiscated to make it look good, but the other four are going
through.”

“And?”

“We’re talking a whole drug cartel with
this run.”

“And only four guys are going in?”

“No, there will be two men or more on
each truck going through.  They’ll be picked up like hitchhikers in
various places.  Also, teams will be following the trucks.”

“Why are they stopping one
truck?  Why not let them all get through?”

“The one they’re stopping is to get
the dealer.”

“And where are they stopping it?”

“I’m not sure, somewhere between
here and San Antonio.”

“I see.”  Gonzalo let the
immensity of the DEA’s action sink in.  “Where does Ben fit in all this?”

Wanda sighed and stared at the
ground.  “You have to understand—the dealer made it known he was going to
watch some guys who started all this—there are three men who—”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I know.  Ben doesn’t want me
to tell you where he’ll be.”

“Why?  He doesn’t trust me?”

“No, it’s not like that.  He
just said he had something personal to do.  Had to make up for something which
happened to a pen pal some years ago, he had to—”

“Damn!”  Gonzalo leaned
against the car.  “He’s going to take care of the ones at this end—the
dealer and the others alone?”

“No, there are agents at the stop
acting as immigration officers.  Look, Missy’s safe; he wanted to be sure she’s
safe.  Don’t worry about her.  As soon as everything’s over she’ll be
returned.  I just think he has a personal vendetta with one of the guys.” 
Wanda climbed in the Porsche.  “Just for the record, I never saw a guy so
crazy about anyone as Ben is about your sister.  Since I was assigned to
help him with the case too, he came to me all bruised and beaten when you and
your brothers—”  She looked away.  “He doesn’t know it but I saw him practically
cry because he’d hurt her then, didn’t even care about his bruises.”  She
started the car.  “DEA’s going to lose a good man.”